Free Fall
by bitchy brunette
Summary: A way around the spoilers about Tara's death. Willow has completely turned to the black arts. What can the others do to save her?


Title: Free Fall   
Archive: ff.net, The Kitten MB  
Disclaimer: I don't own Tara and Willow, or anyone else. If I did, do you think I'd be killing Tara off? Doubtful, unless of course... :)  
Comments: This is almost like a joint fic between Kalrn and myself. She came up with the very basic summary and plot line and I did the writing.  
Apology: I hadn't realized that a blank, general summary like the previos one would cause such sour reviews.   
Feedback: kimmie@e-mailanywhere.com or kalrnux@hotmail.com  
  
  
  
  
Willow felt the power surge through her body, and as she and Amy grasped hands, she felt beads of sweat fall from her face and trickle along her neck. The heat was unbearable, and the light only shone more brightly, illuminating the two witches. They were powerful. They were terrible. They were unstoppable. Tara felt the abuse of magic where she stood. The door to the empty lab the witches occupied must have been 50 feet from where Tara watched eyes wide, and the obvious waves of magic slammed into her like waves. She felt tears sting her eyes as she stared at the glowing crack of the door. Clutching her book to her chest, she ran blindly back to the house so she could think. There had to be a way to stop Willow.   
  
**  
  
A soft knock brought Tara out of her reverie. She opened the door, surprised. "Dawn?"   
"Hi." Tara stepped aside, letting Dawn into the house.   
"Buffy's doing it again." Was the only explanation needed.   
Tara smiled at the teen sympathetically. "What are you doing?" Dawn asked, leaning over the table to peer at the book she had open.   
"Looking for some information."   
"Oh. So can I please spend the night?" Dawn asked, changing the subject.   
At Tara's questioning look, Dawn's eyes grew wide and puppy-like. "Please? We have a lot of fun and today's Friday and Buffy won't even miss me!" Tara couldn't argue with this, so she nodded.   
"Go get ready, ok? The sleeping bag is in the closet, and try to find some pajamas." Tara offered, smiling again at Dawn's delight.   
The witch turned back to study the volume, scanning the pages for anything dealing with witches becoming addicted or abusing their power. Pages and pages went on about the punishments given to witches by the Goddess, but nothing solid and definite enough for Tara's liking. Sighing, she kept on looking. Dawn's voice again broke into her thoughts. "Hey, if I could make Willow buy me lattes for life, maybe I could make her buy you flowers and beg for forgiveness. But that wouldn't work, would it?" Tara felt proud and sad at the same time.   
Dawn had grown so much over the last few months. "No, it wouldn't." Tara agreed, biting her lip as she continued searching in vain.   
Dawn emerged from the bathroom, wearing sleep attire and holding a bowl of popcorn for a movie marathon. "I'm ready. You almost done?" Tara looked down at the book, pretty much useless in this case.   
"Yeah." Tara followed Dawn into the den, still plagued by the extreme desire to do something to help.   
Just as the last movie ended, and Tara quietly rose to push the stop button in an attempt to keep Dawn asleep, the thought struck her. There had to be someone or something helping Willow with this codependence she had developed. Someone was playing the part of a sort of enabler. Tara knew a few of the more trashy magic shops around town, and resolved to visit a string of them tomorrow, asking questions. Happy with a solid plan, Tara drifted off to sleep.   
  
**  
  
"So you have no idea where to find anyone that can help me feel magic?" Tara asked for what seemed to be the hundredth time.   
The wrinkled old lady garnished with all kinds of plastic costume jewelry shook her head. "Like I said, we don't do that Goddess crap. We're the real deal here." Tara tried not to laugh at this.   
"All right. Do you know of any place I can find that does do the Goddess stuff?" Tara wrote the address given to her down and thanked the old woman.   
Hurrying to the next shop, Tara greeted the shop owner brightly. "Hi, I'm looking for a way to feel magic. You know, get a little something from the practice." The middle aged man stared at her, an eyebrow raised.   
"Well, I do know the name of a guy who might be able to help you..." Tara listened to the detailed instructions on how to find a character named "Rak". Thanking the man, she left in a hurry, headed to the Magic Box.   
"Buffy? Is Buffy here?" Tara asked Anya, frantically searching the store.   
The ex-demon shook her head. "Nope. She just left. You know, I think she's probably getting her brains fucked out." Tara stared at Anya, eyes huge.   
"Haven't you felt the Spike thing? I was sure, you of all people-" Tara nodded quickly, hoping Anya was feeling a less of a graphic mood.   
"Well, I had a suspicion, but there isn't any proof." She quickly jumped subjects, deterring Anya's 'hit them with an anvil' method of delivering bad news.  
"I have something for Buffy. I think it's possibly the next big bad." Anya shrugged, bored.   
"I doubt it. We have a big bad." Tara tried to get her point across without shouting and making a scene.   
"This is something big, ok? I can feel it. Could Buffy be at home?" Anya shrugged again, opening the cash drawer to count her daily earnings.   
"I guess its possible. Hey, are you going to just stand there and take up space, or are you going to buy some of our high quality-" Anya began her sales pitch, but Tara was already half way out the door.   
"Hey! Damn those shifty witches." She muttered, not able to hide the grin as she paw through a wad of green bills.   
The bell on the door rang, signaling another customer, and Anya quickly put on her salesperson grin to coerce them into buying her goods.   
  
**  
  
Tara pounded on Buffy's door. Normally, she was not a pounder, but these extreme circumstances called for extreme measures. Buffy opened the door, looking slightly far from happy. To be accurate, she look about 30,000 miles from the overpass of happy, but Tara quickly blurted out everything, from her idea of why Willow was tricked by this Rak to what she planned to do about it. "But I need your help." She finished.   
Buffy sighed, looking at Tara with disbelief. "I guess we can check it out, but I am really busy, ok? You know, the whole slaying otherworldly demon thing." Tara stared back at Buffy, having a hard time believing the words coming from the blonde's mouth.   
"I hear that's not the only thing you've been doing with demons lately." Tara said under her breath.   
"So what can I do to help?"  
  
**  
  
The entire gang, minus Willow, was circled around the table in the magic store. They'd just been told about Tara's idea. Xander looked less than convinced. "So you're saying that my best friend was lured into the abuse of magic by some drug dealer type who wants to feed off her power?" Tara looked surprised that Xander had grasped the idea so well.   
"Um, yeah. That's basically it." Xander nodded.   
"Ok. So how do we break the addiction? I'm thinkin' there's probably not some helpful hotline we can call."   
"Remember that spell Giles and Willow used to add all three of your strengths to Buffy?"   
"Yeah. That was the weirdest feeling. And the only time I got to be one with Buffy." The aforementioned party rolled her eyes at Xander.   
"I tweaked the spell slightly to put the Slayer's power in my body. I know I can't fight this guy and Willow together. They'd be much more powerful, and I also think that it'd be a bad idea to risk Buffy's body as the tool because this isn't exactly slayer duty. I know that Rak is going to use Willow to do something big. He needs her power to do something. What exactly, I don't know. That's what I'm going to use you for." Tara addressed Xander and Anya.   
"What about me?" Dawn asked, her voice taking on a slightly injured tone.   
Tara turned to Buffy. "I was thinking that this might be a good time for Dawn to try a little spell." Buffy's eyebrows drew together in a frown.   
"No, absolutely not. I don't want Dawn involved in this kind of stuff!" Dawn's mouth dropped open, and she was about to remark on Buffy's total hands off approach to parenting when Tara jumped in.   
"All she's going to do is be like an anchor. It doesn't take any experience; all she's got to do is join us in the circle. She'll be in about as much danger as Xander was." Tara frowned, remembering Willow's description of the demons pounding down the door to the Initiative.   
"Well, a lot less danger, you know, minus the demons." Buffy's expression softened.   
"I guess she can do that. If you really think she'll be ok." Tara smiled in assurance.  
Tara turned back to Xander and Anya. "Anya, you'll go find Amy. All you have to do is tell her you've decided to dabble in the dark arts, and hopefully she'll give us some info on Rak."  
"How can we be sure Amy will talk to Anya. It could be regarded as suspicious behavior." Xander put in.   
"Yeah. I liked her better as a rat." Anya added helpfully.   
"Rak is going to be looking for all the power he can get. By finding him another outlet, she might get on his good side. All we need is a little information, and some solid proof. So do you all think you can help me with this?" The gang agreed.   
"I can't wait!" Dawn squealed, plopping into a chair to get more info from Tara as to exactly what part she was going to play.  
  
**  
  
Rak watched Willow perform the simple spell, feeling the power grow inside. "Excellent. You are extremely talented, Willow." Will smiled brightly at the praise.   
"Thanks." Rak decided that now was the time to finish all of his planning.   
"Willow, do you ever feel that the minor spells and charms we do aren't challenging enough for someone of your magical ability?" Willow frowned, thinking.   
"Well, I did a spell that brought someone dead back to life. That isn't exactly chump change." She defended.   
Rak smiled darkly. "I know, but even that is nothing compared to what you can do." Willow looked intrigued.   
"You think so?" Rak nodded.   
"There's so much out there that you don't know, you haven't seen. And you can control it all." He added, his voice darkly persuasive.   
Willow turned to him, looking like a child eager for candy. "What do you have in mind?"   
"Something that will stop the evil here altogether. You could harness the energy of the hellmouth, rendering it impossible for demons and other ghouls to draw from it. It would be the largest spell a witch has ever done. You'd be remembered forever, Willow. You'd be a hero." Willow's face lit up.   
"I would! And it would help so many people..." Willow thought of how proud the gang would be when she heard that the evil in Sunnydale had been completely stopped, due to her power.   
'Then I'll stop using magic, and Tara will forgive me.' "I'll do it!" Willow cried.   
"Where do we start?"   
  
**  
  
Anya frowned, but her expression quickly changed as she walked over to where Amy sat. Plopping down next to the girl, Anya began to make conversation. Amy just stared at her. "Was there something you wanted?" Anya stopped talking.   
"Yes. I want to do spells. Dark spells. You know, the evil kind you do" Amy stared at Anya, considering what to tell her.   
After a minute, she spoke. "You came to the right person. I know this guy who can set you up with a little something to get you started. His name is Rak." Anya stood up.   
"Thanks, that's all I needed." Xander gestured wildly from where he hid behind a bookshelf, but Anya just kept walking toward him.   
"Rak is our guy." Anya took in Xander's defeated look.  
"What? I did good, didn't I?" Shaking his head, Xander and Anya left the University library.  
  
**  
  
"Well, we got the info." Xander said, stretching out on Buffy's couch.   
"Good. Was I right?" Tara asked, leaning forward to catch what Xander said over the racket of Spike and Buffy's argument in the kitchen.   
"I think they're going to-" Xander's hand clapped over Anya's mouth before she could blurt her suspicions about the two.   
"Yes. Anya, uh, talked to Amy." Tara stared at him.   
"We got nothing, other than the fact that after Anya asked about spells, Amy referred her to a guy named Rak, who could 'set her up with something special'." Tara frowned, leaning back against the couch's arm.   
"At least it's something." Xander shrugged.   
"She could've meant he owned a nice little magic shop with beginner's books, you know." Tara sighed, looking at Anya, who looked anything but guilty about her earlier performance.   
"There aren't many reliable shops in Sunnydale that a serious dark-arts witch like Amy would go to. No one named Rak runs any of the good shops. We'll just have to go with what we have." Buffy came in, wearing full rampage mode face.   
"I swear, one of these days I'm going to just lose it and kill that bastard." There was a slight pause.   
"I'm going out." Anya shook her head as the Slayer left the house.   
"You know, she's going out to-" Again her sentence was muted by Xander's hand.   
Xander sheepishly smiled at Tara. "She gets like this sometimes, all suspicious." Anya pouted.   
"Tara already knows. I told you she knew." Dawn bounded down the stairs.   
"Knew what?" The three adults exchanged glances.   
"Nothing." They said in unison.   
Dawn's 'I know you're hiding something from me' face launched Tara into another idea. "Hey, Dawn, I've got another way you can help us." Dawn's face brightened.   
"Cool. What do I do?"   
  
**  
  
Dawn stared at the blank space uneasily. Tara had promised this was it. Nothing was there, though. The spot between the two normal buildings looked empty, but Tara had insisted that there would be something there. All she had to do was walk right inside. 'If anything goes wrong, Xander and the gang are all outside.' She reassured herself, stepping inside bravely.   
Dawn faltered, wondering what to do now. The lights weren't in use, and it was really dark. Outside the alley, Xander was whining. "That's it, we're all dead." Xander said, his voice deceivingly bright.  
He turned to Tara, half-pleadingly. "You know, if we just go in and nab her, no one will ever have to know about this, and we can avoid the big barbecue party where Buffy roasts our heads over the fire on little shish-Ka-bob sticks."  
"We can't turn back now! Besides, if we just walked in there, Rak might suspect something." Anya yawned hugely, bored with Xander and Tara's discussion.  
"Well, she's inside. Can we go back now?" Xander and Tara ignored Anya, as they usually do.   
"How long will this take?" Xander said, the vision of Buffy and Spike clinking wineglasses as they turned the head-laden skewers still fresh in his troubled mind.   
"Not long. All she's got to do is go in and make sure this Rak guy is what we're looking for. If he offers her a deal of some kind to share the profits of a spell, he's our man." Tara looked intently into the building, still trying to catch a glimpse of Dawn.   
"I can only hope she doesn't let Spike carry out the beheadings." Xander muttered to himself.   
  
**  
  
Dawn looked around the dark room. She was scared. Nothing was really visible. Here and there she could make out faint outlines of objects. Slowly, she walked deeper into the room, her hands out in front of her, groping in the darkness for something to hang onto.   
"Looking for something?" Asked a creepy voice from behind her.   
Dawn screamed when a hand rested on her shoulder. Slowly, she turned around and managed to pry open her tightly closed lids. "Um, H- hi, I was looking for Rak." Her voice trembled.   
"You've found him." Dawn smiled weakly; unsure of whether she wanted to see the person she was talking to or not.   
"I- I heard that you give stuff to uh, witches. I am dabbling, I guess, in um, magic, and I was interested, in you know-"   
"Making a little deal?" Dawn spun around again, as he had shifted positions.   
"Ye- Yes. If that's uh, what you do around here." The voice seemed to smile.   
Or it sounded happy. "It's exactly what we do around here. See, magic is a very nice thing, until it all gets old. Spells just don't have the same thrill. Me, I want to help with that. Nothing is worse than losing interest in something like magic. Magic, you see, can be very rewarding." A book was thrust at Dawn.   
"Turn to a page. Any page really, and recite the spell. It's a little thing, but it will give you an idea of what I mean."   
"I- I really don't know about this." The book flew open in her hands.   
"Just read it like its sounds, little girl." The voice commanded.   
It's sound had grown demanding, almost harsh. "Ok." Dawn squeaked.   
She stumbled over the words haltingly, but a glow began to surround her. In this light, she could make out Rak's twisted visage, a long, white scar seeming to glow on the right side of his face. She bit back another scream, and kept reading. It was just a spell calling for light. Dawn had heard Tara and Willow practice this sort of thing all the time. As she neared the end of the incantation, a throbbing feeling grew inside her. It started in her torso and slowly spread, until she felt a power seep through her, from her. After the last word flew from her lips, she felt her body begin to rise, like gravity suddenly didn't apply to her anymore. Dawn's feet lost contact with the floor, and she rose to the ceiling, just hanging there. Dawn couldn't help it- the power tickled, almost. She laughed, waving her arms out as she began to spin. This was how she pictured magic- fun.   
Almost abruptly, she fell back down to the ground. "See? I can do this for you." Dawn looked up at Rak.   
"What do I have to do?" He moved again, this time to lean into her ear.   
"Just a little spell now and then, like a rating of your improvement. I always want my students to learn. That's just what you all are to me, students that I take under my wing, teach them to fly. Are you interested?" Dawn was tempted to say yes.   
She looked at her watch. "I- uh, have to be somewhere." She got up and ran from the shop, feeling Rak's cold eyes on her as she left.   
"I feel much energy from that one. Hmm, a true pity... for after Willow is used up, I'll surely need another vessel."   
  
**  
  
"So the plan commences now, right?" Xander asked, intrigued by a crushed can.   
"Yeah. We've got to stop him from using Willow's energy. It could have negative effects." Dawn looked at Tara, doubt on her features.   
"So Rak could be killing her?" Tara frowned.   
"That's the thing. I'm not really sure." Xander had shaken off his strange fascination and recycled the Coke can.   
"In other words, we have no idea what he's really doing to Willow, when we could have a chance to stop him, and when, if at all, this big thing you speak of is going to go down. Hmm, sounds like Scooby-odds to me." Xander grinned widely at them.   
"Let's do this thing." Tara and Dawn stared at him.   
Buffy stormed in, slamming her coat and bag down in a chair. "And how are you, Miss Ray of Sunshine?" Xander asked winningly.   
Anya rolled her eyes, and leaned back on the couch to watch Buffy dig into them in her anger. "I can't stand that thing!" Dawn sighed.   
"You mean Spike?" Again, Xander quieted Anya before she could blurt out anything that would only serve to further ignite Buffy's anger.   
"I guess he's also called that. You would not believe- Argh!" Buffy was obviously more upset than words could convey.   
"We found out that Rak is our guy. There's no doubt about it." Tara offered quietly, hoping a diversion would serve to diffuse Buffy.   
The slayer turned, questioning. "How did you manage that?" Dawn opened her mouth to confess all, but Xander kicked her.   
He then scoffed, to cover her squeal of pain. "What, we can't get anything done without the Slayer?" Tara explained that they had scoped out the address and seen Rak "trade" with Amy.   
"Wow, good job. So do we have the date and time? I really should pencil that in, you know my jam-packed schedule." Buffy said lightly, collapsing into a chair.  
"That's another thing." Tara muttered, resting her chin in her palm.   
Buffy stared at them. "What, you don't know when? Ok, I've been in some bad situations, we all have, but how can we stop this guy if we don't know when or where to meet him?"  
"We'll just have to figure it out before anything happens." Anya shrugged, helpfully commenting.   
Tara nodded, looking determined. Xander studied her face, sighing. He looked over to Buffy. "See that face? That's her steely resolve face. We'd better get serious."   
  
**  
  
Rak rubbed his gnarled hands together as he watched Willow warm up with simple little spells. "This is boring. You said we were going to harness the hellmouth. You know, the sooner I rid Sunnydale of its baddies, the better." Rak grinned, his ugly face twisting to make the forgotten upturn.   
"All in good time, little Willow." Rak turned back to the rickety bookshelf, drawing out a grimy volume.   
Opening the book, he watched Willow sigh and return to amusing herself with the little blasts of colorful light. Rak ran his hands along the pages, as though reading them by touch. He leaned down as he found what he was looking for. In the passages, a date was mentioned. "All in good time."   
  
**  
  
As soon as Buffy left to patrol that night, Tara, Anya, Dawn and Xander met in the living room. "Ok. Now that we've got Rak thinking Dawn is the next battery, we do... what?" Xander trailed off.   
"Rak wants to use Dawn, and Dawn has power." They looked at Tara, especially Dawn, interestedly.   
"Well, she was energy before. Even converted into a human form, she retains some of that. If you've got a certain sense, or practice using magicks, then it's like an aura to read." Dawn brightened.   
"Yay. I've got power aura."   
"If Willow is needed to create a high magnitude of power, she could be..." Tara searched for the right word.  
"Dried up, like some kind of freaky witch sponge?" Anya asked, blissfully ignorant of common tact.   
"Uh, sweetie, can we not upset Tara here?" Xander muttered, shaking his head.   
"But that won't effect Rak, and he'll just need another vessel for power. Dawn could be a potential."   
"But isn't Amy the better choice here?" Tara shook her head.   
"Amy has been practicing witchcraft for longer than Willow. If he were looking for experience, he'd definitely have gone with her. He doesn't want that. I think it has more to do with actual energy, or talent. Some people just aren't as gifted in the ways of magic as others are."   
"So I'm next in line to become a freaky witch sponge?" Dawn blurted.   
"I mean, how is that going to help us?" Tara bit her lip, thinking.   
"If we can get Rak to start training you now, then maybe he'll let something slip. And if worst comes to worst, at least you'll be there, and can snoop around for stuff if he is good at keeping this thing quiet." Dawn thought for a moment.   
"I'm pretty good at sneaking into stuff." She said cryptically. "I'll do it."   
Tara smiled. "Good. But Dawn, be careful, ok? Whatever Rak used to make Willow believe he was a good guy is obviously convincing. Don't listen to what he has to say. If we can get out of this, and you're still interested, maybe we can look into some early Wiccan stuff for you, ok?" Dawn's eyes grew, and she shrieked happily.   
The teen ran to Tara's side. "You promise? I can be a witch, just like you?" Tara faltered.   
"Well, if Buffy says it's ok-" Dawn hugged Tara.   
"Yes! So let's go do this thing." Xander began to follow the two to the alley they'd visited before.   
He turned to Anya. "Aren't you coming?" Anya was reading some bridal magazine.   
"No. You don't need me anyway. They really don't need you, either." Xander shrugged.   
"You never know. I think Tara and Dawn need a man around to keep them safe, you know." Xander deluded himself.   
Anya rolled her eyes. "Suit yourself."   
  
**  
  
Tara gave her last words of wisdom to Dawn, who still was bouncing with energy. "Ready?" Dawn nodded, and hurried across the street, disappearing into the invisible building.   
  
**  
  
Once inside, Dawn settled down almost immediately. The dark unnerving atmosphere was better than any Ritalin. Dawn stood in the middle of the decrepit room, remembering why she had been so scared when she first walked inside Rak's hideout. Dawn saw the curtains behind a desk flutter as Rak hobbled through them. "Ah, the little one. How are you?" He crooned, approaching slowly.   
Dawn had to keep herself from shrinking back. She knew the others were counting on her. "I've decided to take up your offer." Dawn was surprised at the strength in her voice.   
"Very good." Dawn's brow knitted together in a frown as she saw Rak's glee at her confession.   
Rak cracked his knuckles. "You are a new witch?" He asked.   
Dawn lost the frown. "Yes, but how did you-" Rak gestured for her to be quiet.   
"That is not important. I will teach you. We can do many things, you and I. But it all depends on you. How far are you willing to go? Do you really want to be a witch, or just one who dabbles with small, insignificant things? Would you like to know real power, or feel just the smallest amount of what is possible?"   
Before Dawn knew what she was doing, she blurted out her thoughts. "But why does it matter? Why would someone like me need big, 'significant' spells?" Immediately, she bit her tongue, but Rak turned on her.   
"Why did you come if you didn't long for the power? If you did not care to try new things?" His sneer and graveled voice made Dawn lean away from him.   
"I do!" She cried, trying to keep her bravery up.   
"I want to learn." Rak's smile returned.   
"Very well." He drew another one of his volumes from the shelf and opened it in front of her.   
"We will start with something simple."   
  
**  
  
Dawn relayed the latest session with Rak. "I haven't seen Willow there at all, but I heard him mention something about a student as promising as I am. And by the sound of it, the only person he could mean is Willow." Tara chewed her lip thoughtfully.   
"This isn't how I planned. I'd hoped to have the exact date by now. Have you two found anything at all?" Tara asked Xander.   
Anya, perched on his lap, shook her head, as though what she asked was obvious. "We haven't even started. Xander and I were-" Xander cut her off.   
"About to start. Sorry." He looked slightly sheepish.   
Tara tried not to look too hopeless. "I really don't want to put any more pressure on Dawn. I may have to go myself."   
"But you said he'd be sure to recognize the Goddess from you." Dawn protested.   
"Yes, but what else can we do?" Tara asked, shaking her head.   
"You said I could find something there when he's busy. Rak has a lot of witches around all through our lessons. Sometimes he goes into the back room with them for a really long time, and lets me just read spells and practice them. I'd have plenty of time to dig around for the date." Dawn was indignant.   
Rarely did Tara treat the teen as the others did: like a helpless infant. "Dawnie, you've done so much already-"   
"What? Gone and acted as Rak's newest power plant? I can do this Tara. If you go, you could blow everything. Please?" She added desperately.   
Tara looked worried. "Ah, let the kid have a shot. If nothing turns up, we'll send in the cavalry." Xander put in, his eyes still trained on his fiancée.   
"And if Rak catches her snooping? Then what?" Tara countered fiercely, unhappy at the lack of results and good judgement she'd been forced to deal with.   
Dawn shrugged. "I get the feeling he needs a lot of power for this thing with Willow. I'll make up some lame excuse like I was looking for a harder spell book, and he'll have to buy it. There can't be much more time, and he needs me." Tara looked only slightly convinced.   
"Well, I guess you're right. Tomorrow, if Rak leaves the shop, you can look around. But don't do anything stupid, Dawnie. You're much more important that any stupid book or date you'd find." Dawn grinned widely.   
"I promise!"   
  
**  
  
Dawn frowned at the letters on the page. Meeting with the Scoobies had kept her up late, and she was really tired. Rubbing her eyes and yawning discreetly, she muttered the harder words to herself until she worked out the correct pronunciation. Just then, she saw a flutter at the curtain separating the shop room from whatever was behind. Rak watched interestedly before standing to attend the back room. "Keep studying. I feel your skill growing each day." He praised her before pushing aside the curtains.   
Dawn tried, but whatever was behind was so much darker, all she could see was a black slit before the curtains moved to close behind Rak. Standing slowly, with the grace of an experienced thief, Dawn walked behind the counter, bending down closely to see what lay on the grimy, dusty shelves. Random books bearing titles about spells and histories stood to one side. Heaped near this was a stack of crumpled and browned papers nestled in with jars of slimy-looking contents Dawn had no wish to know the origins of. Plastic boxes bearing labels with herb names also were stacked in the counter, and finally, the leather journal, tied together with a thong caught Dawn's eye. She'd seen Rak carrying it, clutched to his person the first few times she'd come in for her lessons. Dawn hurried a spell for light, and untied the strings. Inside, Rak's sprawling hand detailed his recent doings. Flipping quickly, Dawn found entries on Willow. Running a finger down the page, her eyes widened at the single date, the last line in the last entry. "As the moon rises on January 20, 2002, I shall have my prize." Fingers fumbling, Dawn hurried with the leather strap and shoved the book back as though it was diseased.   
Dawn ran to her chair, lips quivering with the knowledge. Rak slithered in; all grins and praises. After what seemed like hours, Dawn left, barely able to control her shaking. "Tonight. He's going to sap Willow tonight." 


End file.
